It's a great car, if a rather bad pun, as the roots of the car's shape go back to the FJ, a very popular Holden from the mid-1950s.

Other than driving on the wrong side of the road, Australians can be very much like Californians. That includes a love of muscle cars, midget race cars, stock-car racing and hot rods. This enthusiasm inspired a group of designers from 's Holden group, led by their design chief, Richard Ferlazzo, to create the Efijy hot rod.

It's a great car, if a rather bad pun, as the roots of the car's shape go back to the FJ, a very popular Holden from the mid-1950s. Makes it easy to see how GM design around the world was similar, doesn't it? In fact, if the Efijy wasn't right-hand drive and didn't have the "Holden" nameplate, it could easily be a Pontiac, Buick or .

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Done in fiberglass, the beautiful exterior shape is finished in "Soprano purple" and, yes, they love U.S. television shows Down Under. The beige interior has a similar, inviting retro feel with a floor surface of maple. Additionally, there is a great throw-back steering wheel. There's a nod to modernity in the flat-screen speedometer and a drop-down, central touch-screen control panel for such functions as heating/venting/air conditioning controls and the sound system.

A row of buttons on the center tunnel controls the automatic transmission, which is mounted in the back as the main components underneath are from a Corvette. That would include the 6.0-liter LS2 V-8, which has been supercharged to 644 horsepower by Australia's Harrop Engineering.

This same firm also did the billet-based aluminum wheels — 20-inchers in front, 22s at the back — that hide large disc brakes.

Sounds like a runner, eh? And it is, rather than just being a pretty-boy show machine.